Learning to fish with the pole!
As most of you know, I fish rivers with rod and reel and love to catch Barbel and Chub on the rivers, and have never attempted to use a pole. Earlier this year I managed to get hold of a Garbolino 14m Mayhem pole, I had told polepot (Neil) that I had got a pole and with him living close by to me, would he help me to learn it. He said he would, if I would take him on the rivers to catch barbel, it was a done deal. So, here is our first day out with the pole.
I had told Neil I would pick him up at his house and share the petrol to Cudmore and that I would arrive at his house at around 8.30am. I was up at 5am! Like a child waiting for xmas morning, I was so excited at learning a new way to fish. I got on the M62 at around 7ish and it was like being sat in Asda’s car park! When I got there at about 8.45am, he wasn’t quite ready (who was the woman here) so I sat and waited for him. He then asked if I had brought everything I needed with me. I said, “Yes I got it all”, well I thought I had. Neil threw a T-shirt at me and said “ go and put that on” it was a Talk Angling shirt I was well proud to be wearing it and Neil told me I should get one for myself, I looked strange with “polepot” written on the chest, he also gave me a cap to wear.
So, Neil went to my car to put his gear in, he saw mine and said, “Did you bring a keepnet”? Oops that I had forgotten! He then began to re-arrange my whole car! We eventually set off at 9.30am, by this time I was dying to get there. Neil was explaining many things to me on the drive down about pole fishing and how it isn’t as easy as it looks, and not to expect too much on the first time out.
We arrived at Cudmore at around 10.45am just driving down the dirt track I could feel the excitement growing inside me again, and was just dying to get to a peg. “First things first” Neil said“, bacon butty and a cup of tea” Arghhhhhh just get me to my peg was my thoughts. Nevertheless, I just smiled and said “ok”. Neil asked one of the guys which lake was fishing well and that he was here to teach me the pole, he told us to get on Edward lake with sweetcorn and pellet. That is exactly what we had brought for bait, so Edward Lake it was going to be. After we had eaten our bacon butty we set off up to the Lake, the rain was bucketing it down and the sky looked very dark. I had remembered my umbrella so knew at least I could keep dry. Neil explained what to look for in a peg and to remember that I was using a pole; a long pole, so behind me had to be clear. Then all of a sudden the rain stopped and the sun came out, how perfect I thought.We found two pegs next to each other, and proceeded to empty the car. All I wanted to do was get my pole opened and catch some fish. Neil then explained how I should take my pole out away from the bank in case it slid into the lake. He told me how to put the pole together and how to set my box up and be comfortable. Now it was time to get a rig ready, I felt good and told Neil “I have bought a shoebox full of them what I bought from Ebay”, big mistake, because there wasn’t one decent one among them! He showed me how to ship my pole out and back in again. After doing this for over half an hour we eventually tied a rig on, and Neil showed me how to plumb up, and to feel along the bottom of the lake. I obviously had done this before with the rod and reel so didn’t need too much advice on this. Now we were ready to catch some fish (I hoped)!
I often wondered why Neil was called ‘polepot’ but now I know why, he opened a bag full of polepot’s and said “ here’s one I made earlier” I was giggling, but really interested in how he made them all. He chose one for me and showed me how to slide it on my pole. I shipped my pole out very carefully as I didn’t want to spill any of the feed that was in my polepot. Neil was stood by me all the time explaining what to do, and how to lower my rig. For some silly reason after I had emptied my pot I kept wanting to turn my pole over? Anyway, the wind had now picked up again and kept blowing my pole all over the place. Neil showed me how to control it and try to keep it steady. I watched my float, willing it to go under, all I wanted was to catch one fish on the pole and I’d have been happy. Then it went, wow what a feeling, I was laughing and Neil told me to concentrate on getting it in. It felt massive, it wasn’t, it was about 1lb but I was happy! I had caught a fish!
I told Neil to set his tackle up and I would be ok from here. I was catching regular after that and decided to challenge Neil to a little match. “ok” he said go for it, I then reminded him I had his keepnet and how would we keep tabs of his fish. He then pulled out the dreaded clicking machine! By the end of the day I wanted to launch it into the lake! I swear I still have nightmares about hearing that click. Neil caught a beautiful looking Golden Orfe, and was showing it off to me as he clicked his little machine ( I swear he clicked 3 times for that one).
As the day was going on I felt more and more confident about using the pole, and Neil commented on how well I had picked it up and that there was still a lot to learn about using the pole. It was now time to pack up, I hated this time of day, I always do when I am fishing. Neil once again started to tell me how to pack things away properly so that nothing rolled away or got broken.
It was now time to reveal who was the winner, throughout the day I kept asking Neil how many clicks he had done but he wouldn’t tell me! He said I had to wait until the end of the day. He even hid the clicker away from me when packing up so I had no idea! When Neil started to fish I was about 10 fish in front of him, he said he would give me them as a head start. So the results were, Neil ‘polepot’ 55 fish, Wendy ‘barbelqueen’ 45 !
So there you have it, I didn’t do bad did i? It was one of the most enjoyable days out I have had in a very long time. I know I still have lots to learn about the pole and hopefully one day I will be a ‘polequeen as well as a ‘barbelqueen’ .
Wendy, thanks for the article, it makes excellent reading but trust me I don't think we want to be changing your name to polequeen!
Wendy Perry, Barbelqueen fishing the pole
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best of luck babe 
wiltshire mafia
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